Iranian FM Hopes Russia’s Initiative Will Change Syria’s Conditions

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif underscored the necessity for international cooperation against terrorism in the region, expressing the hope that the recent Russian role in Syria would turn to be a game-changer.

“We believe the entire international community should cooperate on Syria to fight extremism and terrorism in our region,” Zarif told IRIB news agency at the end of his two-week visit to New York.

However, he regretted, no serious attention has been paid to the fight against terrorism so far.

“Unfortunately, some of our neighbors do not seek political solutions and try to impose their political intentions and regional goals on the people of Syria and Yemen,” he said.

Zarif expressed the hope that “Russia’s initiative” would make a change in the adverse situation in war-hit Syria.

Iranian foreign ministry has already voiced the country’s support for Russia’s attacks against Takfiri terrorists in Syria.

“Given the official request of the Syrian government from the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran considers Russia’s military operation against armed terrorist groups in Syria as a step in line with the fight against terrorism and towards the resolution of the ongoing crisis in the region,” Iranian Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham announced last week.

Russia launched its first air strikes against terrorist targets in Syria hours after Russian parliament gave a formal consent to President Vladimir Putin to use the country’s military in Syria to fight terrorism at a request from the Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The office of Assad welcomed Russia's decision to carry out air strikes in Syria, saying the military support came at the request of Damascus.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011. In the past four years, more than 240,000 people have died in Syria -overwhelmingly civilians– and around 4 million Syrian people are now refugees in other countries. Another 7.6 million are displaced inside Syria.